Eye On Earth Sets Its Sights On Citizen Empowerment By Sharing Environmental Data
Cities rely to varying degrees on their citizens’ efforts when implementing sustainability initiatives. Motivating mass behavioural changes can be a smart way of achieving sustainability targets at low cost, but a lack of individual accountability can lead to communal inertia and result in low project outcomes – as seen with Amsterdam Smart City’s Onze Energy project. To bypass this issue, several organizations are using IT to bring to life the mass of scientific data available today and reach out to wider stakeholder segments. Around the world, public authorities have been using mapping technologies to provide social and environmental data and support development and planning initiatives. Take, for example, the US Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution data maps, or the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change’s interactive maps on energy trends. On December 1, 2011, a public-private partnership of Microsoft, the European Environmental Agency (EEA) and Esri, and the Geopolitical Information System (GIS) technology firm, launched Eye on Earth, a public information service for sharing and accessing environmental data across Europe. The platform aims to drive informed community development and action by giving citizens free access to data on local air and water quality, and noise levels.
As with other mapping tools, Eye on Earth opens the doors for increased public participation in environmental information networking beyond mere ‘Point of Interest’ datasets. It also supports localized decision-making. To encourage participation, Eye on Earth has developed access through a phone application that allows individuals to input their own data points to complete the EEA’s dataset. But raising environmental awareness and interest amongst the general public requires long-term commitment. In the long-run, the partnership will have to publicise the scheme, demonstrate its impact on local decision-making and directly incentivise individuals to participate. Otherwise, its reach is unlikely to extend beyond academic and policy circles of influence.
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